OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 4 West Virginia got out to a hot start in the first game of the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship with an 11-1 run-rule victory in eight innings over No. 5 Baylor Wednesday morning.

The Mountaineers relied on the pitching performance from Isaiah Kearns as he only allowed three hits and struck out six while only allowing one run. The freshman secured his fifth victory of the season.

The West Virginia offense exploded for four early runs, then Kyle Gray added to the scoreboard by hitting a 3 RBI triple. The Mountaineers manufactured seven total runs in the first inning. Kyle Gray would go on to go 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, while Jimmy Galusky went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. The Mountaineers would then add single runs in the third and fourth and two runs to end it in the eighth inning. West Virginia collected 14 hits on the day.

Baylor was able to capitalize after Richard Cunningham's double and finally got on the board with one run in the seventh inning.

NOTES:

West Virginia is currently 7-6 all-time in the Big 12 Championship.

Baylor is currently 32-36 all-time in the Big 12 Championship.

Baylor and West Virginia are now tied 1-1 in the all-time series during Big 12 Championship play.

No. 4 seeds are currently 38-29 all-time in the Big 12 Championship

No. 5 seeds are currently 28-37 all-time in the Big 12 Championship.

STAT OF THE GAME:7 – the amount of runs West Virginia scored in the first inning.

WHATS NEXT: The Mountaineers advanced to the winner's bracket of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and will face the winner of No. 1 Texas Tech and No. 8 Oklahoma State on Thursday at 4 p.m. CT. The Bears will look to fight their back and meet the loser of the Texas Tech-Oklahoma State matchup on tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT.